The threat posed by rising temperatures due to climate change to the health of older people is very much underestimated, warn scientists whose results were published by researchers at Stanford University. The American team led the study, published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, which was launched during an exceptionally hot summer and extreme temperatures that were breaking records worldwide.
The aim of the research was to estimate how often global warming caused by human activity will raise temperatures to levels that older people can no longer tolerate. Previous research in this field has used a metric known as wet-bulb temperature, which takes into account air temperature and humidity to estimate how much heat the human body can withstand. However, these studies were mostly conducted on young and healthy adults, creating a gap in understanding the vulnerability of the older population.
Older people sweat less, have weaker hearts and more frequently have pre-existing health conditions, making them significantly more sensitive to heat stress. To assess this correctly, researchers used data from more recent experiments conducted in the United States. These experiments examined how people over the age of 60 tolerate high temperatures and humidity, providing key data for modelling the impact of climate change on this specific age group.
The analysis took into account the ageing of the world's population and examined how heat up to the year 2100 will affect people in three different age groups. Different levels of global warming were considered, allowing for more accurate predictions of future risks. The results suggest that the frequency of days when temperatures become unbearable for older people will increase drastically, requiring urgent adjustments in public health strategies.
